Most conventional communications networks today, particularly existing telephone networks, provide a calling party with an audible ringback signal when an intended called network address or station line is idle and a busy signal when the intended called network address or station line is already in use (i.e., the telephone or other device at the called network address is being used). Conventional networks also provide a calling party with an audible dial tone signal when the telephone or other device at the calling station signals the network that they wish to initiate a call or network communication and a line is available. Most conventional communications networks today, particularly existing telephone networks, also provide advanced features, such as call waiting. The call waiting feature allows a station or device already connected to another station or device to temporarily disconnect from a first call and receive a second incoming call, and then switch between the calling parties.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,557,658, 5,428,670, and 5,321,740 to Gregorek et al., incorporated herein by reference, disclose the selective modification or replacement of at least a portion of a call progress signal, including the conventional aforementioned ringback signal, dial tone, busy signal, call waiting signal, and call waiting idle time, with prerecorded announcements and/or audio/video programming. These announcements and/or programming provide more information to a calling party. The replacement announcements and tones can be tailored to a specific calling party and can be associated with a calling party's unique network address or telephone number.
Custom ringback announcements allow for an additional level of flexibility and personalization of a user's communications network service. To customize the system, a user of a replacement ringback system, the network provider, or a third party might wish to deliver, for example, audio/video programming, music, interactive games, jokes, personalized messages, or informational messages to a calling party to supplement and/or replace the conventional ringback tones played to the calling party. Furthermore, replacement content can be customized for a specific calling party or group of calling parties. The replacement ringback system offers a convenient and simple way to extend a caller's communication experience and takes advantage of a previously unutilized call transmission period.
In addition, replacement ringback tones and announcements offer almost limitless applications in the marketing industry. Typically, a caller experiences a rather large amount of unused idle time when waiting for a called party to answer his or her telephone. A caller may also be put on hold for several minutes while the called party answers another inbound call (e.g., a called party may place an initial caller on call-waiting or hold to answer a second inbound call). Since ringback tones can be played to all parties, regardless of the called party's or calling party's own carrier or calling transmission means (i.e., whether the caller is calling from a wireless link or land line, etc.), replacement ringback tones are an ideal medium for advertising. Substantial revenue can be gained by taking advantage of this idle time to deliver advertisements pertaining to consumer goods, products, services, etc. provided by a particular corporation or individual. Further, since communication devices are virtually ubiquitous and universally used, ringback tones have the potential to reach a large, targeted audience very quickly and efficiently. For example, businesses may use replacement ringback tones to deliver company slogans, jingles, and promotions to increase exposure and publicity.
As the adoption of the technology identified in the above-referenced application is emerging, certain drawbacks in the user interface for enabling the functionality of the application are arising. For example, a subscriber is usually required to notify the network provider in advance if the subscriber desires a new ringback replacement association via a Short Message Service (SMS) message, email, or telephone call to the communications network's voice response system or call center. This advance notification, for example, usually contains at least the network address or addresses to be associated with the new ringback content and an identification of the desired replacement ringback content. Alternatively, a communications network may utilize a website designed to facilitate interaction with the network's ringback replacement system. After an authentication and identification process, a user of a replacement ringback website may specify new ringback content to be added to the user's ringback service via a user-friendly web interface and a series of graphical prompts and menus. The desired ringback content may be already stored on the communications network (or a third party location) or the user may select local content to be transferred to a storage location accessible by the communications network. The website may utilize standard HTTP upload functionality, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or any other data transfer or upload mechanism to initiate the transfer of the replacement ringback content to the communications network. The network provider then makes the necessary changes to the subscriber's service to associate the appropriate network address or addresses with the desired ringback content.
Also, notification and confirmation by external means are often required to update or change the ringback content for an already-existing ringback association. For example, an exchange of emails may be required to effect the change in service, or a visit to a website may be necessary to modify replacement ringback functionality. This often inconvenient and time-consuming method of updating or adding new ringback content to a user's service discourages subscribers of a ringback replacement service from frequently modifying or adding new ringback replacement associations, thus reducing potential revenue by deterring regular and repeated ringback content purchasing and utilization.
Another popular feature among communications network subscribers, especially wireless telephone network subscribers, is the ability to download custom ringtones to a subscriber's handset or station. Ringtones are small audio/video clips stored locally on a subscriber's handset or station. These ringtones are associated with certain calling parties so that when these certain calling parties call the subscriber, custom ringtones play in lieu of the conventional ringtones on the subscriber's handset or station. Custom ringtones are a simple way to personalize a communications device. In addition, by associating certain ringtones with certain calling parties, a subscriber can know who is calling before the subscriber answers the phone or glances at the caller identification (“caller ID”) display.
Currently, however, ringtones are distinct from replacement ringback tones. Since both ringtones and ringback tones serve to entertain a user, and both tones personalize a user's communications device, it would be advantageous if subscribers of a ringback replacement service could use existing ringtones already stored on their handsets or stations (or a rendition or derivative thereof) or ringtones about to be purchased and downloaded from the communications network as replacement ringback content. The rendition or derivative of the ringtone content may be formatted or augmented for network playback as a ringback tone, as appropriate. This functionality allows for the synchronization of a user's ringtone inventory with a user's replacement ringback inventory.
It would be advantageous if users could utilize function keys already built into their handsets or stations to access a system for associating existing or downloadable ringtones with specified network addresses or telephone numbers to be used as replacement ringback announcements. Thus a seamless system is needed that is accessed directly from a user's handset or station for easily synchronizing ringtones with a user's replacement ringback inventory using a familiar means, such as the menu or prompt systems already integrated with a handset or station.